Lovecraft
by extraordinarynow
Summary: Andromeda Prince is a seventh year Ravenclaw student, metamorphmagus, and the cousin of Severus Snape. Her life was changed by a boy in a week.
1. Monday

**Monday: Black**

Andromeda had always felt, deep down, that she could always do more to help her cousin. The bullying was relentless, he hated school even more than he hated his home and that was saying something- being the offspring of the Prince family was no mean feat.  
Anytime she had bothered herself to get involved, it had always resulted in tears- and not hers- Severus'.  
There was no shortage of bullies at school, which was one of the reasons that Andromeda had only one close friend, but there was one singular group of Gryffindors who seemed to single out her cousin. Younger than her by only a year, Severus seemed to attract them like magnets, and they made no secret of their dislike towards him.

Tripping him in the corridors, sending him howlers at breakfast time, all of that she could manage to let slide, but seeing him pin him against a tree that late Monday evening- something inside of the girl snapped and she found herself marching towards the group of younger boys like a bat out of hell.  
There was an amount of respect- her housemates had told her- that came with being a seventh year, and she hoped that any influence she had over stopping the gathering group which surrounded her cousin would be made clear. She wasn't one for confrontation, in fact she rarely put herself in situations which would cause it, but the group of younger boys didn't know that.

"-and what are you going to do Snivellus? Cry?" a tall dark haired boy jeered. He wasn't the one holding her cousin by the throat against the oak tree, but he was the first one Andromeda laid her hands on. It seemed to be the right thing to do, because the other boys- a doe eyed brunette boy that looked like he needed some sleep and a smaller, blonde retreated.  
They were all taller than her, but with one hand around the scruff of the boy's neck and the other holding her wand to his temple, it didn't seem to matter.

"Four against one?" Andromeda snapped, causing the attention of the ring-leader to snap to her. Ignoring the horror and embarrassment already slapped across Severus' face, Andromeda gave the other boy a shake for good measure, "seems a little cowardly, doesn't it?"  
"As cowardly as needing a girl to stick up for you?" the spectacled boy retorted, turning his back on Severus and taking a step towards her. The boldness of him angered her, causing a small ripple of red light to shine from the end of her wand, which made him falter a little.  
 _That's right four-eyes, watch your attitude._  
"What are you his girlfriend?" the boy in her grasp blurted out, "why don't you let me go and we can talk about how you can do much better?"  
"She's not my girlfriend, Black!" her cousin stammered.  
Andromeda's dark eyes narrowed at the name. There were many Black's around the school, all of them in her house- what was this rogue one doing bullying her cousin? And with a red tie around his neck at that, her grip on it tightened and he cleared his throat, trying not to hide his obvious discomfort.  
"Why don't you all apologise to my cousin and I'll consider letting you walk away without any further issues?" she replied curtly.  
"You must not know who I am," the boy in front of her grinned, "I'm James Potter and I don't walk away from a fight."  
Andromeda let a small laugh burst from her lips before she could help herself. She glanced to her left to let her eyes settle on the other two, who had since drawn out their wands and while the darker haired boy had his just as a precaution, she could swear that the blonde had his angled slightly towards her.  
 _Just try it blondie._  
"Then you must be either unbelievably arrogant, or unbelievably stupid…" she drawled back.

Thankfully, Andromeda didn't have to listen to another word that fell out of James Potter's mouth because another voice- a girls- answered instead.  
"I know on good authority that he is in fact both."  
To everyone's surprise a ridiculously pretty, red-headed girl appeared as though out of nowhere and though Andromeda noticed the red tie around her neck too, she couldn't help but be taken aback by the way her hair glittered in the setting sun.  
"Lily, don't get involved," her cousin muttered, his eyes wide at the sight of her, "please."

"Yes please, please Evans," James Potter mimicked, pleading with her, seeming to grow even more in confidence at her arrival, "don't make them think I need _two_ girls to defend my useless arse!"  
Thankful for Lily Evan's presence, Andromeda also grew in confidence. She felt better already and pushed Sirius towards his friend suddenly, pointing her wand in the direction of the pair of them and shooting the blonde boy at the side a look which dared him to throw a spell at her.  
"I don't need help from either of you!" Severus exploded suddenly, his anger making both Andromeda and Lily take a short step backwards. Andy raised her eyebrows, what was this- some fire from him at last, however misdirected.  
"I've told you to leave me alone!" Severus snapped at her, and with a roll of her eyes she stuffed her wand into her robes.  
"And you, just go away you filthy Mudblood!"  
Andromeda recoiled at the word, but not as much as Lily- who stared at him for what seemed like a full ten seconds before she bolted towards the castle.  
Severus immediately ran after her, and Andy couldn't help but just stare at him as the four boys banded together and James called, "You'll pay for calling her that I swear it Snape!"  
Andromeda couldn't move for a moment, before she cast a scathing scowl over her shoulder and began to stomp up towards the castle herself- with a soundtrack of her own abuse.

Part of her hoped she hadn't made herself a target, that was all she needed with preparation for final exams, but as she made her way back up towards Ravenclaw tower her worries were directed more towards her cousin and the language he had used against a girl he obviously cared about.  
Snape was odd, he was a loner, he was a tough nut to crack, but she had never once known him to be… cruel.


	2. Tuesday

**Tuesday: Red**

The girl's bathroom on the first floor was where Andromeda always stopped by to "change" uninterrupted.  
While some of her fellow Ravenclaw's found Andromeda's condition to be entertaining, her room-mates didn't like that she changed her hair colour as and when she liked in the dorm. They found it to be 'irritating' and accused her frequently of showing off.  
The ghost that inhabited the bathroom, the one who kept it un-used, understood this. She knew what bullies were like, she knew that they could be harsh and judgemental.  
"Jealous probably!" the ghost had sung at her when she had shown her the reason she came to the bathroom most mornings.

Andromeda didn't think that she was much to be jealous of. Her own mother insisted that she was a very plain and unintelligent girl, though she had amended the later comment when she had been placed into Ravenclaw.  
'A Hufflepuff if I have ever seen one,' she had barked at her as a child whenever she had made a clumsy mistake, 'too kind, too helpful… no ambition.'

Lifting her hair over her shoulders, she remembered Lily Evans, the girl from the previous day. She had been bold, and had stepped in to defend her cousin. She had a fire inside of her that had been ignited by the injustice, and she recalled the way her hair had shone in the light by the lake. She shook her head and, just like magic, Andromeda's black locks turned long and flowing red.  
"Pretty!" came a chirp from a stall, and Andy turned and walked down the aisle until she spotted the cubicle. A girl lounged inside of it, her head resting on her hands, her hands on the rim of the toilet bowl she was half way out of.  
"Good morning Myrtle," Andy greeted with a small wave of her hand, the other reaching instinctively to play with a lock of newly reddened hair, "thank you."

Andromeda reached for her school satchel and pulled it over her shoulder, before waving goodbye.  
"You know what they say about red-heads though…" Myrtle sang as she left the bathroom into the throng of school children all heading to class.

She took the staircase towards the exit, her first double was Herbology down by the greenhouses, and a strong pull of wind caused her hair to whip around her face.  
Andy had to admit that the change of hair colour made her feel braver as she skipped down the stone steps, turning the heads of a couple of Slytherin boys as she did so.

It was in this moment, as she was about to start a new day of learning, that her peacefulness was interrupted by a tall brown haired boy with glasses and a shorter blonde haired accomplice.

"Lily wait are you ok-" he began, but she cut him short and batted his hand away.

Her dark eyes settled on the blonde, who was equal in her height, and she took in his appearance slowly. He had bright blue eyes, wide with confusion. He had obviously believed she was Lily Evans, maybe she had been too accurate with the hair colour. His cheeks were rosy and he kept glancing at Potter with a sort of wild admiration, as though he thought the world of him and all of his actions.  
"Not Lily," she responded shortly with a tiny shake of her head as though she couldn't comprehend why he had mistaken her for someone else. She turned to his side-kick, "And not interested," she chuckled.

"You're the girl from yesterday," James pieced together slowly, "you look different."  
"I do that," she replied with a bored drawl, as though she'd had this conversation a million times before. Close, more like two million.

James grinned, it was a charming and boyish grin, which Andy had no doubt had gotten him into as much trouble as out of it. Andromeda was not impressed.  
She glanced back to the blonde, expecting a reply- he held her interest far more than James.

"This is Pete," James answered for him, and he gave a little nod in her direction before glancing over his shoulder, as though he feared Andromeda and was looking for back-up. She liked that.

"Ah yes, the one who usually points his wand at someone as a greeting..."  
Pete continued to look at her, wordless and confused as though he couldn't remember ever pointing his wand at her. She stared back into his eyes, blue- no, _water_ and she couldn't look away.  
"He normally doesn't do that," James responded with an small smile, "what's your name, or shall we just call you Snape's girlfriend?"

Dragging her eyes away from Peter, she lifted a hand to run it through the red locks and brushed it away from her face. She didn't want to tell him her name, she wanted to ask James why he had such a problem with her cousin, wanted to tell him to leave him alone, but she couldn't summon the words.  
Deep down she knew it would just cause more trouble for Severus, she had a feeling that James Potter was a relentless little know-it-all if ever she saw one and that one threat from her wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.

"Andromeda," she drawled, before glancing over her own shoulder, "and Severus is my cousin, now if you don't mind, I'm sure you have someone else to terrorise."  
James shot a reply to her but she didn't hear it, she'd already turned on her heel and trotted off down the corridor.


	3. Wednesday

**Wednesday: Blue**

Usual morning, usual bathroom, different hair.  
She'd decided that being a red-head fired her temper and that she did not enjoy the attention it brought her. She had decided to change the next morning, after she had locked eyes with Lily Evans in the dinner hall and she had given her a strange look.

"Not going well is it!?" Myrtle's screech came from the window at the top of the bathroom. Her ghost friend lounged lazily on the top window of the girls bathroom, and had been watching as Andromeda's hair flickered from sky to cobalt to teal to cerulean to navy blue. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get the shade of it right, nothing compared to the iris' of that boy.  
So settling on a baby blue, which Myrtle (who had on good authority due to how often she frequented the Black Lake) assured her was 'like a mermaid,' she grabbed her bag and padded out of the bathroom.

The study periods that seventh years were assigned were the highlight of Andromeda's week. She got to spend endless hours in the library, devouring as much reading material as two packets of Peppermint Imps would allow her.  
The afternoon was quiet, just as herself and Madame Pince liked it, and she tucked her feet under her, curled up on a large armchair by a window that overlooked the grounds and let her fingertips dance over the binding of Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants as she studied.  
A shuffling dragged her from her reading, and she turned her head accusingly to see none other than the blue-eyed boy himself scuffling about, trying to reach a book on the top shelf.

She turned back to her book, but two minutes later she was pulled again from the information she was craving to see he had still not reached it.  
 _Was he stupid?_  
With a sigh, she pulled herself away from her chair, and stalked over to him, clearing her throat with a determined cough.  
"Do you know that you are a wizard?" she asked cautiously, "you do have a wand?"  
He glanced across to her, seemingly oblivious to the fact she had asked him two clear questions. He was unsure of what to say, and glanced nervously again over his shoulder.  
"Yeah... I do," he stammered, before scrunching up his eyebrows in confusion, as though he were trying to place her but could not.  
 _He had met her three consecutive days in a row now and he honestly still did not know who she was?_

Still, her face hadn't changed, had it? She could have if she wanted to, of course, but her mother had always dissuaded her against that kind of deformity.

"What book do you want?" she asked with a sigh, pulling her wand from her robes.

He gestured to a large, leather bound one and she motioned it down with a soft mutter of "Accio."

It floated from the shelf easily and into her hands, and she passed it over with a small smile.

"So… use it," she shrugged, before raising an eyebrow at him, "it's good for more than just threats you know…"  
He took the book, and gave her the small thankful smile of a stranger, he didn't catch on to her reference from the first time they'd met.  
She skipped away to her book, deciding that his eyes were more a clearer blue than she had remembered.


	4. Thursday

**Thursday : Black**

Why would she care? Why would she, a final year Ravenclaw student who was months away from sitting her exams and finally beginning her life, care that one boy in a sea of students didn't remember who she was.  
She had spent almost her entire Hogwarts life flitting through the ocean of bodies down the corridors of her school. Invisible, like a ghost sometimes, never causing attention, never _wanting_ it. So why did it matter so much to her that 'Gryffindor Pete' couldn't recall her face?

Anyway she didn't care, not really, that wasn't the reason that she had turned her hair black. She didn't need him to remember her from that first day. It just. Didn't. Matter.

Her final herbology project however, did, _a lot._  
The Greenhouse had become her new library, and her project on the experimental medicinal uses of Snarglepuff pods was a good enough distraction for her.  
At least, it had been, until Gryffindor Pete had come into _her_ greenhouse at the exact moment she prodded a tuber with a scalpel too harshly and a pale green liquid squirted up and hit the roof of the greenhouse with a disgusting slap. Her attention was firmly on the oozing liquid above her head, praying that it wouldn't fall on her until he stammered.  
"Oh sorry, Professor Sprout didn't tell me someone would be here…"  
"Yeah well, it seems Sprout doesn't tell people a lot of things..." she hummed back idly, before she reached for a bowl and placed it directly under the offending liquid, in case it decided to take on a life of its own again.  
Andromeda turned her attention to the boy and smiled.  
"Andromeda right?" he asked, taking a couple of steps forward, distancing the benches between them to only one.  
"That's right and you're…." she narrowed her eyes, as though she were trying to remember him, as though she hadn't fallen asleep the previous evening trying to ingrain the specific colour of his iris' into her head.  
"Peter," he replied for her, she hated when people did that. Andy would have at least liked to have a few guesses to torment him. Paul? Phillip? Patrick? Who again?

"What are you doing in here alone?" he asked, eying the Snarglepuff plant curiously though he didn't move towards it. He was right to be wary, that thing could bite your arm off.  
"Nosy little thing aren't you?" she replied, though she was actually the smaller of the pair.  
He chuckled, and for reasons she couldn't explain Andromeda was delighted. He had a nice smile, she noticed, and then quickly un-noticed and turned towards her work, _don't stare._

"Coursework for my N.E. ," she explained, before moving in front of her desk, "top secret I'm afraid."  
Still smiling, Peter nodded and averted his eyes to her head.  
"You changed your hair again," he noted, lifting his hand to indicate her locks, as though she didn't know where her own head was.  
"I did," she agreed, "it's just something I do."  
"I like it," he said suddenly, and then his ears turned a little pink which again flushed Andromeda with delight, "can you explain how it works, is it a potion?" He glanced around the room, "Perhaps from a plant?"

"Oh, there's nothing in all the greenhouses in the world that can do this…" she chuckled, and suddenly her hair was blonde. His eyes widened but she didn't stop, she grew two feet and towered over him, shrank herself back to normal size before raising her right hand and transforming it into a bear's paw.  
Party tricks, all of them, tricks which earned her a beating if her mother ever saw them. But her mother wasn't hear now, it was just her and an odd boy staring at her with bizarre wonderment.  
She flexed the paw, claws stretching out as she extended her hand towards Peter who jumped back in fright. With a laugh and a little shake of her hand, it returned to her pixie sized palm. With a claw she could have swiped off his head, but her little hand wouldn't even be able to wrap itself around his neck.

Not that she would ever want to do that.  
Would she?

"It's not a spell," she smiled, and jumped back onto the clear herbology bench, letting her legs dangle beneath her, "I was born this way."  
Suddenly eager for information, Peter quizzed her, revealing that he was highly interested in Transfiguration and she willingly told him about Metamorphmagi. About how they could change their appearance at will, that her emotions often caused her to change without meaning too, that her parents had always told her that she should keep this a secret and never use her gifts in the house.  
"I wanted a pet dog so much when I was nine that I became one," she laughed, and Peter couldn't help but laugh along with her, "my mother didn't speak to be for two months after I chewed up her pillows…"  
"Changing into animals is that," he hesitated, as though he wanted to phrase his question exactly right, "more difficult?"  
The way he looked at her now was excruciating to Andromeda. He was watching her every move, everyone movement of her lips and every sound that came out of her mouth as though he needed to recall this information and repeat it to someone later. He leaned over the desk in front of him, and though she felt she were being analysed she couldn't help but natter away.  
She explained the differences between Polyjuice Potions and Animagi and Metamorphmagi, and before she knew it the bell was ringing and it was lunch time.  
"Wait… weren't you supposed to get something for the Professor?" she asked, with a light chuckle, heading back to her bench and clearing her things, noticing that the liquid from the ceiling had at some point during their conversation slopped down and landed in the bowl she had laid out. She labelled everything and stored it, laughing when Peter said that he was probably going to earn himself a detention for not bringing Sprout the shears she'd requested.  
Together, they left the greenhouse, and Andromeda had forgotten what it was like to be with someone this way. Just walking beside Peter made her feel happier, less alone, and so when the time came to part ways she couldn't help but think up an excuse to see him again.  
"Where do you normally hang around for lunch?" she asked, and then filled in the silence before he could answer, "because there's this really interesting article that Professor Dumbledore wrote a few decades ago that I could bring to you tomorrow… it's about Metamorphmagi… if you're still interested that is…"

Peter smiled as they came to the Entrance Hall and said that tomorrow he would no doubt be in the library at lunch time. "One of my friends, he's… well, he's been very sick and I have notes on the classes he's missed. He told me that he'll be back tomorrow and want to copy them up."  
Walking in step to the Great Hall, Andromeda nodded and told him that she would see him tomorrow, before swinging a right to the Ravenclaw table at the far end of the hall.

She smiled to herself over lunch, all the while wondering if she still had that Transfiguration Today issue from 1926.


	5. Friday

**Friday : Purple**

Watching from behind a bookcase, Andromeda was relieved to see that Peter had been telling the truth. He was there for one, and she didn't have to hunt him down, and then he was only with one other boy- who genuinely looked like he should be in the hospital wing. Andy padded  
softly over, not wishing to disturb their quiet note-copying activity, and sat herself down in a seat next to Peter and opposite the brown-haired boy.  
"Hey," she greeted gently, glancing over her shoulder to check that Madame Pince wasn't around, before she reached into her bag and pulled out the article.  
"Hey," Peter replied with an easy smile, glancing anxiously towards the other boy and then back to Andy, taking in her appearance, "nice hair."  
"Thanks," she grinned, before looking across the table. She was struck by how goddam awful Peter's friend looked, she briefly recalled him looking a little worse for wear on Monday- but this was a whole other level bad.  
"Hi I'm Remus Lupin," the other boy smiled at her, rolling his eyes at Peter and sticking out his hand in greeting, "thank you for the introduction Pete…"  
Andy reached out and took it briefly. She didn't know whether it was because he looked like he was on death's door, but Andy didn't feel the same about him as she did Potter and the other one. In some way his face was kinder, less judgemental, and either he didn't notice the change in her hair, or he took it in his stride which instantly made her warm to him.  
"Andromeda," she replied softly, and let their hands fall. Remus went back to his notes, smiling softly to himself.  
She slowly became aware that Peter had been watching the whole encounter and turned to him, tapping the document on the desk. "It's old but quite interesting," she assured him, "it considers whether Metamorphmagi can disappear from existence completely."  
Peter grinned at her, and Remus' head pricked like a dog who'd caught a scent.  
"Ah, that explains the hair," Remus smiled, "that's really cool…"  
Andy grinned back, it wasn't often that she didn't have to explain herself to the curious ones, she liked this boy more and more.  
"Anyway I have to get back to the greenhouse," she muttered, aware of the eyes on the three of them as the library was supposed to be silent, "nice to meet you Remus Lupin, bye Peter!"

She stood up turned to leave, her feet padding against the wooden floor of the library. Glancing briefly over her shoulder, she could see Remus and Peter were now fully engaged in a conversation, fifty percent of her hoped it wasn't about her, and fifty percent did. She quickly distracted herself, and began considering how a carpet would be more appropriate for a library as her ballet pumped shoes tapped annoyingly against the surface.  
Finally she made it out to the corridor when a hand caught her arm and she turned back to face Peter.  
"Andy wait!" he gasped, and she realised that she must have been walking quite quickly since he was slightly out of breath.  
Lifting her arm away from him to brush her lilac fringe out of her eyes, she shot him a quizzical look, "Is everything ok?"  
Peter nodded, and shifted his weight on his feet, returning his hands to his pockets and looking sheepish. "I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight?"

Andy didn't have time to respond, though if she had it would certainly have been a look of shock splattered across her face, was she being asked on a date?  
"There's a party in the Gryffindor common room tonight, to celebrate before exams start," he filled in quickly, and relief washed over Andromeda. A date she didn't think she could handle, a party would be fine.

"Would you…" he began.  
"I'll come," she answered quickly, watching the same relief-wave wash over him and a genuinely happy smile spread over his face.  
"That's great, do you know where-"  
"Sure, I know where it is, what time shall I be there?" she replied quickly again, well aware of the fact that it was just the two of them in the corridor and the proximity of how they stood was slowly becoming more and more of a big deal in her mind as the time passed.  
"Eight?" he offered, to which she nodded in reply before- without saying goodbye- turning on her heels and practically running down the corridor like she was fleeing the scene of a crime.


	6. Saturday

**Saturday : Purple**

Andy watched helplessly at a game of spin the butter-beer bottle, in which girls threw themselves at boys like it was a matter of life or death. It was like witnessing a dementor attack, something horrific but also something which she couldn't tear her eyes away from.  
After finally working up the nerve to appear at the Gryffindor party, now here she was, sat cross legged on a worn red velvet sofa in a lonely corner next to the drinks table, tugging uncomfortably at the hem of her dress which kept sliding up her thighs. She was too self-conscious to notice Sirius Black's dark eyes on her, eating her up. Slowly taking in every little detail about her from the tip of her long violet hair to her bare ankles and everything in between.  
He particularly enjoyed her soft, round curves; from her small waist to the bottom of her body she was one smooth, S-shaped curve that only 1950s pin up drawings could achieve- just like the muggle girls he taped to his walls at home to annoy his mother. He wondered, hoped rather that this this was because she was a year older, and if the twiggy girls in his year might transform too.

He flopped his body down on the sofa next to her and when she finally got the nerve to look at him, her intense stare was met with an equally sharp one. Sirius Black, the only one of Peter's friends who hadn't bothered to talk to her this week, had calculating eyes and a practiced stance: not so close as to invade Andy's personal space but too close for to ignore him completely, just casual enough seem detached and nonthreatening to anyone watching them, which Peter was- like a hawk.

"I was wondering why you even came here," he grinned, before pointing at the bottle spin game on the floor, "but now I see, you like to _watch._ "  
"I'm here because Peter invited me," she bit back, unable to help herself even though she knew that was exactly what he wanted, "I didn't realise that he-d be so…" she broke off, not sure of how to finish her sentence.  
"Busy?" Black finished for her with a short laugh, following her eyes to where Peter was flicking through his beaten box of old records. "He's always the DJ at parties," he told her with a hint of- was it warmth? in his voice, "we sometimes take bets on whether he'll have the song we want… Evan's the only one to have ever suggested a song he _didn't_ have…"

Andy nodded once, out of politeness though Sirius didn't extend the same courtesy when he reached over and took a lock of her hair, tugging on it lightly.  
"So strange," he muttered, low so that nobody could hear, "that someone so pretty could come from the same stock as Snivellus…"  
Andromeda jerked her head back and batted his hand away, narrowing her eyebrows.  
"Don't," she snapped, before taking a breath, "call him that."  
"Oh come on don't be a party-pooper," he hissed with a roll of his eyes, lifting a hand to run it through his black mane, "I'm guessing that's the only reason you managed to get yourself invited up here…"  
Andy shifted forward in her seat as though she were contemplating leaving, but she couldn't help but listen since she so desperately wanted to know the reason herself. It certainly wasn't because Peter wanted to get to know her better.  
"Imagine the look on the slimey freak's face when he realises that one of us is nailing the girl he's had a crush on for years," he chuckled, motioning to Lily Evans, who had taken that moment to walk over, "and another is nailing his cousin… ah speak of the devil!"  
Lily stood, threateningly over the pair of them, and opened her mouth to speak but before she could say a word Andromeda bolted.

Peter rushed out of the common room and found her on the steps of Gryffindor tower. He sat down next to her quietly, though she still jumped in surprise. Hugging her knees against her chest, her chin atop them, Peter didn't know what to say.  
"Aren't you cold?" was the best he could think of.  
"I'm freezing," she said calmly, like all the anger he had just seen inside the common room had vanished, "but I'm not going back in there."  
"I understand," Peter nodded, "will you tell me what Sirius said?"  
"It doesn't matter," she shrugged.

Silence settled in and Andy slowly shifted closer to him until their legs touched and she could lean her head on his shoulder. She told herself that this way, they would keep each other room.  
"I've never felt so stupid in my life," she whispered against his shoulder, "to come here into a room of people who _detest_ my cousin and think they wouldn't judge me… it really is a lion's den in there.."  
"You are the least stupid person I've ever met," he murmured back, knowing that he should reach his arm around her, or stroke her hair or something- but his arms remained limp in his lap.

"Come on I'll walk to you back to your tower if you like," he smiled down at her.  
"Won't you be missed? The music…" but he shook his head in reply and stood up, silently extending his hand to her.

She took his hand and stood, and he leaned in, his face only centimetres from Andy's, and still coming closer. Peter knew that he had no game, how could he when he was constantly surrounded by Potter and Black? Even Remus had a sort of studious, dishevelled charm about him. He knew that he was always the fourth choice out of the four, but with Andromeda's hand tightly held in his, he knew that he shouldn't waste this opportunity.  
She almost jumped when his hand found the back of her neck and pulled her in, making it impossible to do anything but give in. She was smiling when she felt his lips brush against hers, but before she got to taste them, someone broke the magic of the moment by storming out of the Gryffindor common room squealing with delight. Peter and Andy pulled away and adopted a more casual demeanour, as a girl stormed down the steps being chased by a friend.  
As soon as they left, and the snoozing portrait of the Fat Lady turned to them again, Peter looped an arm around Andy's waist and crushed her against him. Her arms locked around his neck and he pressed her back against the cold wall, his chest pressing against her soft body, and they finally kissed.  
It was a kiss full of need and repressed feelings- far from sweet or tender. It was powerful, and rushed, but Andromeda enjoyed every second of it.

When they finally broke apart, his arms were locked around her in such a way that she was trapped against Peter's chest, her chin safely tucked in the crook of his neck. Andromeda smiled.  
His grip loosened only when she murmured, "Come on," her voice humming against his skin and sending a shudder down his spine.  
"I want to show you something," she added quickly, as though she might lose her nerve, and she took off down the steps of the tower, dragging Peter behind her.

Peter followed her down the steps until they reached half way, until Andy stopped suddenly, to which he didn't mind at all as his chest brushed into her back and he chuckled softly. Andromeda closed her eyes for a moment at the contact, her smile broadening as his free arm looped around her waist and he whispered into her ear, "It's against the rules to be out of the Common room you know."  
"We won't be caught," she assured him over her shoulder, his warm cheek brushing against hers and his blue eyes watching her curiously.

She reached out and pulled aside a curtain around a window which overlooked the grounds, and Peter chuckled again, wondering if she had brought him just to see the view. Andromeda continued to pull at the curtain, stepping reluctantly out of Peter's grasp again, and she grinned when a small hole appeared in the wall.  
"What on earth is that?" Peter gaped.  
"It's a shortcut," she grinned back, before ducking down and disappearing into the passage.  
"Where does it go?"  
An echoed giggle came back, "Well, come and find out."  
Peter disappeared too, the curtain flopping back to it's original position behind him.

"The school is full of these," Andy said through the darkness, pulling out her wand and muttering "Lumos."  
The passage lit up and Peter cocked his head at Andromeda, before she took his hand again.  
As they walked slowly down the passage, careful with their footing, Andy glanced back over her shoulder at Peter.  
"The castle is full of these," she reiterated again slowly, "this one goes from your common room to the fourth floor..."  
"Handy," Peter smiled in return, wondering how many passages were possible and how they weren't common knowledge by now.  
"Handy for you," she nodded, "I'd never found a use for it until now…"  
As they reached the end of the tunnel, Andy pushed gently on the wall and it slowly gave way.  
They emerged on the fourth floor, behind a loose portrait of a lion in his African habitat , which growled softly in it's sleep and flicked it's long tail.  
Peter gave her hand a small squeeze, the reference to Gryffindor was clear now he could see it. He knew that James would lose his mind once he found out about this, and Sirius would no doubt be keen to find out if any of them left the castle.  
He grinned boyishly, now that he had a secret that none of them knew, and he slowly fell into step with Andromeda down the fourth floor hallway until they reached the Ravenclaw tower steps.  
"Unfortunately for me there's no shortcut," she sighed, taking a long look up the stairs before leaning her back against the stone wall and taking a long look at Peter.  
Alone like this she saw him in a different light, not physically (which was shadowy and very flattering to his long jawline that she ached to touch) but how different he was out of the shadow of his friends. His blue eyes was pure, and he didn't seem to know his strength, which she guessed was what made him so easily manageable. He had the potential of a tsunami but he thought he was just a stream, but Andromeda saw it even if he didn't.

He winkled his nose, like a fieldmouse, noticeably uncomfortable at her scrutiny of him, though as the seconds ticked by realizing he didn't entirely mind being the sole focus of Andromeda Prince. He reached out and took a lock of her purple hair, toying with it gently before he leaned in and gave her the sweetest kiss. Not an eager, open-mouthed kiss like before, just a soft brush of his lips against hers which set Andy's heart off like a racing broom.  
She wasn't sure how long they stood there just lips against lips, but a portrait clearing their throat pulled her back to earth.

"Well, goodnight Peter," she sighed lightly before giving him a small smile.  
He stood in the corridor listening to her feet tapping against the stone until he couldn't hear anything, before running two hands through his messy blonde hair and returning-via the lion- to the party.

_  
 **Sorry this is taking longer to finish than I'd hoped...  
I'm just trying to work out how to pull it all to an end but hopefully will get it done this weekend.**


End file.
